Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
trails, savoring its colorful capital, and meeting its friendly locals, you'll feel like you're in
on a secret.
Sunday Closures:
Slovenia can be extremely sleepy on Sundays, even in the larger towns
and cities, where virtually all shops are closed. Plan ahead. Fortunately, many restaur-
ants remain open, plus a select few grocery stores.
Smoking Ban:
Smoking is prohibited in public places, unless it's a specially designated
(and well-ventilated) smoking room. Larger hotels still have some smoking rooms, but
smoking isn't allowed in public areas. Outdoors, all bets are off.
Telephones:
Slovenianphonenumbersbeginningwith080aretoll-free;090and089denote
expensivetolllines.Mostmobilephonenumbersbeginwith03,04,05,or07.Formore
Toll Sticker:
To drive on Slovenia's expressways
(avtocesta),
you'll need to display a toll
sticker (
vinjeta,
veen-YEH-tah; €15/week, €30/month). If renting your car in Slovenia,
it probably comes with a toll sticker (but ask just to be sure); if you're driving in from
elsewhere, such as Croatia, you can buy one at a gas station, post office, or some news-
stands (watch for
vinjeta
signs at gas stations as you approach the border).
Be warned:
This rule is taken very seriously. If you're found driving on expressways without the
sticker, you'll immediately be fined €150.
call for Mediterranean cruises. As the country is so small, it's possible to see just about
any of the Slovenia destinations covered in this topic in a single day in port (provided
you use your time efficiently and have a private driver—I recommend Tina Hiti and
Slovenia has a long and unexciting history as part of various larger empires. After Illyrian,
Celtic, and Roman settlements came and went, this region became populated by Slavs—the
ancestors of today's Slovenes—in the late sixth century. But Charlemagne's Franks
conqueredthetinylandintheeighthcentury,and,eversince,Sloveniahasbeenabackwater
of the Germanic world—first as a holding of the Holy Roman Empire and later, the Habs-
burg Empire. Slovenia seems as much German as Slavic. But even as the capital, Ljubljana,
was populated by Austrians (and called Laibach by its German-speaking residents), the
Slovenian language and cultural traditions survived in the countryside.
